We have used a whole-genome approach to identify genes that are involved in the response to iron deprivation and iron overload in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast respond to iron deprivation by activating systems of iron uptake, by mobilizing stored iron, and by shifting to iron-independent metabolic pathways. One type of iron uptake system activated during iron deprivation specifically transports iron-siderophore chelates, such as ferrichrome (FC). The intracellular trafficking of Arn1, a FC transporter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is controlled in part by the binding of FC to the transporter. In the absence of FC, Arn1 is sorted directly from the Golgi to endosomes. FC binding triggers the redistribution of Arn1 to the plasma membrane, while FC transport is associated with the cycling of Arn1 between the plasma membrane and endosomes. We determined that the clathrin adaptor Gga2 and ubiquitination by the Rsp5 ubiquitin ligase are required for trafficking of Arn1. Gga2 was required for Golgi to endosomal trafficking of Arn1, which was sorted from endosomes to the vacuole for degradation. Trafficking into the vacuolar lumen was dependent on ubiquitination by Rsp5, but ubiquitination was not required for plasma membrane accumulation of Arn1 in the presence of ferrichrome. Retrograde trafficking via the retromer complex or Snx4 was also not required for plasma membrane accumulation. High concentrations of FC led to higher levels of ubiquitination of Arn1, but did not induce degradation. Without this ubiquitination, Arn1 remained on the plasma membrane, where it was active for transport. Arn1 was preferentially modified with poly-ubiquitin chains on a cluster of lysine residues at the amino terminus of the transporter. Further studies have revealed that Gga2 is also involved in the endocytosis of Arn1 at the plasma membrane, but that the binding of ubiquitin ubiquitin residues is not required for Gga2 to mediate trafficking of Arn1.
| Deng, Yi; Guo, Yan; Watson, Hadiya et al. (2009) Gga2 mediates sequential ubiquitin-independent and ubiquitin-dependent steps in the trafficking of ARN1 from the trans-Golgi network to the vacuole. J Biol Chem 284:23830-41 |
| Kim, Youngwoo; Deng, Yi; Philpott, Caroline C (2007) GGA2- and ubiquitin-dependent trafficking of Arn1, the ferrichrome transporter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Biol Cell 18:1790-802 |
